I believed the mystical teachings
could erase sorrow. The mystical teachings
do not erase sorrow.
They say, here is your life.
What will you do with it?
Two Worlds Exist
Yehoshua November
Interview with Alan Brill
Poem by Yehoshua November
When I was younger,
I believed the mystical teachings
could erase sorrow. The mystical teachings
do not erase sorrow.
They say, here is your life.
What will you do with it?
Two Worlds Exist
Yehoshua November
Interview with Alan Brill
I believed the mystical teachings
could erase sorrow. The mystical teachings
do not erase sorrow.
They say, here is your life.
What will you do with it?
Two Worlds Exist
Yehoshua November
Interview with Alan Brill
Jewish cemetery in Lyubavichi
Jewish cemetery in Lyubavichi
- Public Domain
- File:Graves of founders of Lubavitchy Hasidic branch.JPG
Linked Post - More On The Importance of Honoring One's Nature - Chabad.org
"Every individual is required to serve G-d according to his nature and spiritual level. A person who can pierce pearls or polish gems, yet occupies himself with baking bread, is considered to have sinned, even though this too is a much needed task. The parallels to this in our Divine service are obvious." Igros Kodesh of the 6th Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Rebbe Rayatz, letter #1022, Heb. Vol. 4, p. 340.
"~ A Story with an Echo ~
The Alter Rebbe would tell the following story." One Friday afternoon, a wagon driver drove his wealthy and pampered employer to the mikveh, and then led his horses to the stable where they would be housed over Shabbos. As he was leaving, he saw a squad of soldiers dragging a Jewish family away in chains. He sprang up and with a few powerful blows felled several of the soldiers. Before a major struggle erupted, their commanding officer approached him calmly."
continue
Faith and Mitzvos
"My son, forget not My instruction, and may your heart keep My commandments for they shall add length of days and years of life and peace to you." (Proverbs 3:1)
History's wisest man ends his book of wisdom with the words, "The sum of the matter is to fear God and observe His commandments." (Koheles 12:13)
Thus, faith and mitzvos are the key to life, the focus of life. Yes, how many people today talk about either? I just finished reading a children's story about a boy that was driving his father mad because he didn't like Gemara study. We heard nothing about the kid's character, just his disinterest in Gemara. He was viewed as a lost child. The story ends happily because a new tutor turned him around with regard to his Gemara study.
I have read many stories like this. Many of the charedi gadol books suffer from the same problem.
I have read many stories like this. Many of the charedi gadol books suffer from the same problem.
Yet, R' Herschel Shachter tells us that for most of the last thousand years the average man did not study Gemara. He studied other things. We are talking about good Jews here. And certainly Mishlei doesn't say the sum of the matter is to study Gemara.
In my BT yeshivos we rarely talked about mitzvos, yes even in a school for people raised without mitzvos. We rarely talked about emunah other than to say you have to have faith that Hashem will send you money if you don't work and you study Gemara all day long.
The shuls I attended after leaving yeshiva were the same. Everything centered around daf yomi.
We have a real problem on our hands. What is the baal habayis who has maybe an hour a day for Gemara study to make of his life? What are women who don't study it at all to make of their lives? The problems are exacerbated for baalei teshuva since they were not raised with mitzvos. So an FFB doesn't hear about mitzvos but he or she did do them so even though they were not consciously valued, they were valued to some extent. But a BT isn't taught about mitzvos either by example or by other instruction.
Is all this a new kind of apikorsis? The Satan had his methods of stripping 90% of klal Yisroel from mitzvos - persecution, poverty, haskala. And what about the 10% die-hards who wouldn't leave. Oh, he gets them to leave by manipulating their idealism and redirecting it to a complete focus on Gemara study at the expense of faith and commandments. So who is left to honor King Shlomo's advice and the Torah's many exhortations to keep commandments?
Well, Hirschians are left as Rav Hirsch talked endlessly about the importance of commandments and developed an entire symbolism of commandments to make it more meaningful. And Chasidim are left as they emphasis mitzvos such as peyos, tznius, tefillah, and kashrus. Chabad's daily learning program includes study of a mitzvah a day and a chapter (or 3) of the Rambam, which is all about mitzvos, action.
The Tanya teaches that our purpose is to bring Hashem into the world and we do that through action, through keeping of mitzvos. The Maharal says that commandments connect us to Hashem.
Rav Avigdor Miller carried the torch on the topic of emunah, using the Duties of the Heart as his sourcebook in its discussions of God's interactions with the worl.
Chabad Chassidus approachs emunah from a different angle by talking about God and His interactions with the soul.
Interestingly Rabbi Miller's ethical will advises that a person combine musar and Chassidic life. He says to be involved with a group like Satmar or other anshei sephard.
Many people try to change their lives by going to shiurim. It's not enough. We need to live a life of faith and mitzvos. Connection to Hashem and action as a channel for our energies. The prevailing model of shiurim, shiurim is like college. How many of us became frum to get away from the approach to life? We need to involve our hearts and our hands in our Judaism.
One terrible irony of the Gemara study as life approach is that it takes so many Jews out of the workforce doubling the tuition of those who do work (largely because not working requires financial support from family). This leaves the workers who live under the Gemara as life model with little connection to Judaism because they are forced to take high paying, time consuming jobs. And if mitzvos don't matter then the work is all done disconnected from Judaism. So what you get are baal habatim whose main function in life is to pay for the lifestyle of the in-crowd, kollel establishment and their own religious life suffers. It's like the poor working for the rich.
I believe this is mostly a charedi yeshiva world problem. The answer for many might well be chassidism just as it was 200 years ago for many of our ancestors. Now many yeshivish rabbis head you off at the pass with their disparagement of chassidim even as the chassidim are so obviously superior in their religious observance. As the Rebbe noted (it's in one of the yom yom in English entries), the whole topic barely warrants discussion because the chassidim long ago proved themselves worthy in their derech.
Anyway, we have the wonderful Rabbi Miller telling us to go that way. And that's good enough for me.
Faith and commandments. That's the goal. That's the key. That's the ticket. How are you going to get there?
Many people try to change their lives by going to shiurim. It's not enough. We need to live a life of faith and mitzvos. Connection to Hashem and action as a channel for our energies. The prevailing model of shiurim, shiurim is like college. How many of us became frum to get away from the approach to life? We need to involve our hearts and our hands in our Judaism.
One terrible irony of the Gemara study as life approach is that it takes so many Jews out of the workforce doubling the tuition of those who do work (largely because not working requires financial support from family). This leaves the workers who live under the Gemara as life model with little connection to Judaism because they are forced to take high paying, time consuming jobs. And if mitzvos don't matter then the work is all done disconnected from Judaism. So what you get are baal habatim whose main function in life is to pay for the lifestyle of the in-crowd, kollel establishment and their own religious life suffers. It's like the poor working for the rich.
I believe this is mostly a charedi yeshiva world problem. The answer for many might well be chassidism just as it was 200 years ago for many of our ancestors. Now many yeshivish rabbis head you off at the pass with their disparagement of chassidim even as the chassidim are so obviously superior in their religious observance. As the Rebbe noted (it's in one of the yom yom in English entries), the whole topic barely warrants discussion because the chassidim long ago proved themselves worthy in their derech.
Anyway, we have the wonderful Rabbi Miller telling us to go that way. And that's good enough for me.
Faith and commandments. That's the goal. That's the key. That's the ticket. How are you going to get there?
Chabad and Chagash
Chabad is Chochmah, Binah, and Daas. These are the first three of the sephiros, ie the powers of the soul, and are described as the intellectual components.
Chesed, Geruah, and Teferes are the fourth through six of the sephiros, the first of the emotional or middos oriented sephiros.
Chabad-Lubavitch is more intellectual, or tends to be, than most of the other sects. Hence the name Chabad.
Chagas, characterizes more of the other groups.
Chesed, Geruah, and Teferes are the fourth through six of the sephiros, the first of the emotional or middos oriented sephiros.
Chabad-Lubavitch is more intellectual, or tends to be, than most of the other sects. Hence the name Chabad.
Chagas, characterizes more of the other groups.
Shulchan Aruch HaRav and Rebbe Rayatz of Chabad on what to study.
"Every Jewish male — whether poor or rich, whether of perfect health or ailing, even a poor man who begs from door to door, and even one who is married and has children — is obligated to establish a fixed time to study the Torah by day and by night, as it is written, 'And you shall meditate on it day and night.'
"During this time one must study the Written Law, and also the Oral Law, [which comprises both] conclusive legal rulings and Talmud. One should not restrict himself to Talmud if his Torah study is in its early stages, for initially one should know many of [the laws defining] what is forbidden and what is permitted, without [studying] their motivating principles and supports. [Moreover, one should learn] how to practice the mitzvos that are currently incumbent upon us, so that he will know how to observe and perform and will not sin, [even] before he knows everything properly from an in-depth study of the Talmud. (Shulchan Aruch HaRav, SECTION 155 The Universal Obligation to Study the Torah. (1-2))" Chabad.org
Sometimes it seems as if some people deem Chassidus the only topic worthy of study but you see from the Baal HaTanya a very different picture of primary subject matter.
And now the Rebbe Rayatz:
"Everyone should study mishnayos by heart, according to his ability, repeating them while walking in the street. Through this, we will merit to greet Mashiach.
Chassidim must study Chassidus. Chassidim in general should do so on Monday, Thursday, and Shabbos. Temimim should do so for an hour every day."
HaYom Yom Tackling Life's Tasks - 21 Kislev
And then there's the Besht: "The Baal Shem Tov conducted a regular study session in Gemara with his disciples, combining acumen and erudition. It embraced the writings of Rambam, R. Yitzchak Alfasi, and Rabbeinu Asher, and other commentaries of the Rishonim1 that were relevant to the passage under discussion." (Hayom Yom: Tackling Life's Tasks - 13 Cheshvan)
"During this time one must study the Written Law, and also the Oral Law, [which comprises both] conclusive legal rulings and Talmud. One should not restrict himself to Talmud if his Torah study is in its early stages, for initially one should know many of [the laws defining] what is forbidden and what is permitted, without [studying] their motivating principles and supports. [Moreover, one should learn] how to practice the mitzvos that are currently incumbent upon us, so that he will know how to observe and perform and will not sin, [even] before he knows everything properly from an in-depth study of the Talmud. (Shulchan Aruch HaRav, SECTION 155 The Universal Obligation to Study the Torah. (1-2))" Chabad.org
Sometimes it seems as if some people deem Chassidus the only topic worthy of study but you see from the Baal HaTanya a very different picture of primary subject matter.
And now the Rebbe Rayatz:
"Everyone should study mishnayos by heart, according to his ability, repeating them while walking in the street. Through this, we will merit to greet Mashiach.
Chassidim must study Chassidus. Chassidim in general should do so on Monday, Thursday, and Shabbos. Temimim should do so for an hour every day."
HaYom Yom Tackling Life's Tasks - 21 Kislev
And then there's the Besht: "The Baal Shem Tov conducted a regular study session in Gemara with his disciples, combining acumen and erudition. It embraced the writings of Rambam, R. Yitzchak Alfasi, and Rabbeinu Asher, and other commentaries of the Rishonim1 that were relevant to the passage under discussion." (Hayom Yom: Tackling Life's Tasks - 13 Cheshvan)
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